Report of the Russian Centre for reconciliation of opposing sides in the Syrian Arab Republic (March 6, 2016)

General information on the application of measures for the reconciliation of opposing sides

In the course of last 24 hours, preliminary agreements with elders of six towns located in the Damascus province have been achieved.

Total number of towns, which had joined the ceasefire agreements, remained 42 ones.

Negotiations with leaders of 6 armed formations active in the provinces of Damascus, Daraa and Homs are being held.

In total, 30 ceasefire application forms have been signed with leaders of armed groupings.

The Russian Centre for reconciliation receives appeals from representatives of opposition forces for participating in the process of discussion of the new Syrian Constitution.

Results of ceasefire monitoring

In the course of last 24 hours, 15 ceasefire violations have been registered (Damascus – 11, Aleppo, Hama, Daraa, and Idlib – 1 in each).

Four civilians have been injured in the course of attacks on inhabited areas and units of government troops in Damascus by illegal armed formations.

Russian Aerospace Forces and Syrian Air Forces did not make strikes on armed formations, which follow ceasefire regime and informed the Russian or American Centres for reconciliation about their location.

Humanitarian aid to the population of Syria

The Russian Centre for reconciliation has received appeals from administration leadership and elders for providing humanitarian aid to 6 most damaged inhabited areas in the Damascus province. Forming of another humanitarian convoy has been launched.

In the course of working sessions, leadership of the Centre, representatives of the National Reconciliation Ministry, Ministry of Inner Affairs, and municipal administration of the Syrian Arab Republic have discussed issues concerning raising of effectiveness of providing humanitarian aid to citizens of towns and villages, which joined ceasefire regime.

Additional information

Governors of the Idlib and Latakia provinces held working sessions on issues concerning bringing peaceful life back to the towns, which had been liberated by the government troops.

ISIS militants are taking efforts to capture elders and administration leaders of towns, field commanders of “moderate” opposition, who had signed ceasefire agreements in order to set the ceasefire regime back.

The Centre for reconciliation of opposing sides will assist in providing security for them.

The past 24 hours witnessed 15 new breaches of the cessation of hostilities in Syria by terrorist organizations, the head of the Russian Center for coordination and monitoring of the cessation of hostilities, Gen. Sergey Koralenko said in a statement on Sunday.

According to Koralenko, the 15 breaches were monitored on Sunday in the countryside of Damascus, Aleppo, Hama, Daraa and Idleb in the ninth day of the cessation of hostilities, which started in implementation of the Russian-US agreement which was unanimously adopted by the UN Security Council on February 26 in accordance to resolution No. 2268.

Koralenko pointed out that ISIS terrorists in Turkey are preparing to launch an attack on al-Qamishli city near the Turkish border, adding that terrorists from ISIS are currently stationed near the Turkish town of Nusaybeen which lies 1.5 km from the Syrian border and are preparing for an attack on Qamishli city.

He also said that Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists fired on Sunday mortar shells on the Turkish territories to force the Turkish army to shoot towards the Syrian territory and send troops to Syria, warning that it will lead to disrupting the process of cessation of hostilities.

Koralenko pointed out that terrorist groups in Daraa are putting up roadblocks and stopping cars of civilians, threatening them that they will be killed unless they participate in combat activities.

The Russian Center announced on Saturday that nine breaches of the cessation of hostilities were registered including six breaches in Aleppo province and one in each of Damascus, Lattakia and Daraa.

It should be noted that the cessation of hostilities in Syria does not include ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra and other organizations listed on the list of international terrorism.

13 civilians were killed and more than 40 others were injured due to a terrorist attack with rocket and mortar shells which targeted Aleppo city.

Local sources told SANA’s reporter that terrorists fired tens of rocket and mortar shells on al-Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, a residential area in the city, claiming the lives of 13 citizens and injuring more than 40 others, in addition to causing extensive material damage to private properties.

Two children injured in landmine and bomb blasts in Hasaka countryside
6 March، 2016
Hasaka, SANA

Two children were injured in blasts of a landmine and a bomb of those left behind by ISIS terrorists in the countryside of the northeastern Hasaka province.

A source at Hasaka Police Command said in a statement to SANA on Sunday that a landmine planted by ISIS terrorists in al-Homar al-Sharqiyeh village in eastern Hasaka exploded when a 10-year-old child was passing, leaving him injured.

Another child was wounded and the fingers of one of his hands were cut off in a blast of a grenade in al-Shaddadi city, 60km south of Hasaka city, the source added.

Reem/H. Said

Raqqa Citizens Take to Streets to Voice Support for Syrian Army

TEHRAN (FNA)- A large number of civilians rushed to Raqqa streets, where they held a massive demonstration in support of the Syrian Armed Forces for their victories against the terrorist groups around the country, specially in the Eastern and Northeastern territories.

Raqqa civilians hoisted the flag of Syria in at least five neighborhoods of al-Dareiyeh, al-Ramileh, al-Ferdows, al-Ajili and al-Bakri and poured to the streets of Tal Abyadh and al-Mansour chanting slogans of support for the Syrian armed forces.

Reports said on Friday that continued advances of the Syrian army and its popular allies against the militant groups in the Eastern part of Aleppo province and the Northeastern part of Hama province are seriously threatening the ISIL’s self-proclaimed capital of Raqqa.

“Since October of 2015, the Syrian army has captured some 50 villages in the Eastern Aleppo during an offensive which halted the ISIL-imposed siege on Kuweires Airbase,” the sources said.

“Furthermore, government forces have advanced along the M45-highway (Hama to Raqqa) and reached the Western side Raqqa province. Meanwhile, Kurdish fighters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have taken firm control of the Northern region of the Raqqa province,” the sources added.

However, given the current rate of advances by the Syrian army and its allies, the caliphate is likely to be wiped off the map in Iraq and Syria.

According to the sources in the ISIL-controlled Northern Syrian city, the fierce clashes erupted as significantly growing numbers of ISIL members have been deserting the group in recent weeks.

One Local source in Raqqa confirmed that around 200 suspect members of ISIL defected only in the last two days.

Meantime, a group called “Faylak al-Sham” claimed that dozens of former ISIL militants joined the group in Northern Aleppo.

Recent unrelenting advances of the Syrian army and its popular allies against the militant groups in the Eastern part of Aleppo province and the Northeastern part of Hama province are seriously threatening the ISIL’s self-proclaimed capital of Raqqa, military sources said.

“Since October of 2015, the Syrian army has captured some 50 villages in Eastern Aleppo during an offensive which halted the ISIL-imposed siege on Kuweires Airbase,” the sources said.

“Furthermore, government forces have advanced along the M45-highway (Hama to Raqqa) and reached the Western side of Raqqa province. Meanwhile, Kurdish fighters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have taken firm control of the Northern region of the Raqqa province,” the sources added.

Kurdish Fighters Score More Victories against ISIL in Syria’s Raqqa

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) stormed the ISIL lines of defense in Northern Raqqa province and imposed full control over a number of villages.

The Kurdish fighters captured several villages in the vicinity of Sulouk in Northern Raqqa after a violent battle with the ISIL terrorists.

The YPG and SDF launched a new offensive in the Sulouk countryside after repelling the ISIL large-scale assault earlier this week.

On Saturday, the Kurdish fighters pushed the ISIL terrorists back form their strongholds and recaptured the villages of Shamandour fifty kilometers from West of Kazouran mountain and Beir Haba’a both near Tal Abyadh.

The ISIL left behind scores of the dead or wounded members and fled the battlefield.

The YPG Kurds have recently bonded with the Damascus government. The Syrian army sent several arms cargoes to the YPG troops in the Northeastern province of Hasaka and trained the first group of Kurdish volunteer forces in the provincial capital city of Hasaka last month.

The SDF that is comprised of mainly Kurdish fighters as well as a few hundred Syrian Arab dissident forces have received trainings from the US and have been provided with scanty US-coalition air support in their battles in Raqqa province in Northeastern Syria; but in Northern and Northwestern battlefronts, they have been operating alongside the YPG and received the Russian air backup in their Aleppo wars that started with the conquest of Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates early in February.

Assisted by the Syrian army – that has along with popular forces and Hezbollah conquered almost all militant-held regions in Eastern, Southern, Western and Northwestern Aleppo province – and Russian air support, the Kurdish forces fighting against the terrorists in North-Northeast Aleppo province have been making striking advances against the Al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham and ISIL terrorists in February.

In February, the YPG and SDF fighters prevailed over the terrorists in the highly strategic city of Tal Rifat in Northern Aleppo and captured the city.

The YPG, who enjoyed the Russian air backup, prevailed the terrorists’ positions from the Western direction and shook hand with the Kurdish units of the SDF who entered the town from the North.

Kurdish Fighters Continue to Hunt Terrorists in Aleppo

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) stormed the militants’ gathering centers, mainly from al-Nusra Front, in the Northern territories of Aleppo, and inflicted serious losses on the terrorists.

The Kurdish fighters struck the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra fighters’ concentration centers near Tal al-Shaqif and a road towards Castello, which ended in the killing or wounding of several militants and destruction of their military vehicles and equipment.

On Saturday, the ISIL attempts to capture part of a strategic road connecting Hama to Aleppo were fended off by the Syrian Army troops.

The ISIL attacked on the positions of the Syrian army along Ithriya-Khanaser road near the village of Sheikh Hillal to capture the supplying line but they failed.

The army later closed the road and did not permit any vehicle to pass.

A few hours later the Syrian government force pushed the militants back and reopened the road.

The YPG Kurds have recently bonded with the Damascus government. The Syrian army sent several arms cargoes to the YPG troops in the Northeastern province of Hasaka and trained the first group of Kurdish volunteer forces in the provincial capital city of Hasaka last month.

The SDF that is comprised of mainly Kurdish fighters as well as a few hundred Syrian Arab dissident forces have received trainings from the US and have been provided with scanty US-coalition air support in their battles in Raqqa province in Northeastern Syria; but in Northern and Northwestern battlefronts, they have been operating alongside the YPG and received the Russian air backup in their Aleppo wars that started with the conquest of Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates early in February.

Assisted by the Syrian army – that has along with popular forces and Hezbollah conquered almost all militant-held regions in Eastern, Southern, Western and Northwestern Aleppo province – and Russian air support, the Kurdish forces fighting against the terrorists in North-Northeast Aleppo province have been making striking advances against the Al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham and ISIL terrorists in February.

In February, the YPG and SDF fighters prevailed over the terrorists in the highly strategic city of Tal Rifat in Northern Aleppo and captured the city.

The army’s units and air force continue targeting the positions and hideouts of the terrorist organizations, inflicting heavy losses upon them.

Idleb/Hama

An army unit destroyed positions for Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organization and killed 11 of its members in Abu al-Duhour town, 50 km south east of Idleb city, a source on the ground told SANA on Sunday.

Seven more Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists were killed and others were injured in an army operation against their hideouts in the vicinity of Jarjanaz town, 10 km east of Maaret al-Nouman city in the southern countryside of Idleb province.

In a relevant context, two terrorists from the so-called “Failaq al-Sham” were killed when an explosive device went off in their vehicle in Atmah town, according to local sources.

In the neighboring Hama province, army units targeted sites of vehicles for ISIS terrorists in Hamadi Omar and al-Sheikh Hilal villages, the source added.

The army’s air force launched during the last 24 hours airstrikes against ISIS sites to the east of Mhein town in eastern Homs to which the army restored security late last year, according to a military source.

Two centers and a number of vehicles, some of them equipped with heavy machineguns and others loaded with weapons, were destroyed in the airstrikes, the source confirmed.

Army and Armed Forces units, in cooperation with supporting forces, established control over Point 912 and Point 861 in the direction of al-Tolol al-Sood in the eastern countryside of Homs province.

Deir Ezzor

Gatherings of ISIS terrorists and several of their fortifications were hit in army airstrikes in al-Mrei’iyeh town and to the east of al-Jafreh village, located on the southern bank of the Euphrates River in the eastern Deir Ezzor province.

The airstrikes left a number of centers and vehicles, some equipped with machine guns, destroyed and a number of the terrorists dead.

More fortified sites and positions for ISIS terrorists were destroyed in army airstrikes in al-Bgheiliyeh village, 7 km to the west of Deir Ezzor city, according to the source.

A number of ISIS hideouts were also hit on the outskirts of al-Rushdiyeh neighborhood in the city, with many terrorists getting killed.

Satellite Images Show ISIL Preparing for Massive Offensive in Al-Salamiyah

TEHRAN (FNA)- Russian military sources in Syria said the ISIL terrorists have been preparing for a large-scale offensive to capture the strategic city of Al-Salamiyah after launching preliminary assault in Hama ‌province’s Southeastern regions on Saturday afternoon.

The source cited a military intelligence report on a large transfer of ISIL fighters from the Iraqi city of Mosul to the Al-Raqqa, al-Masdar reported.

The report was based on the information provided by their Russian military advisers, who cited satellite images of ISIL massive concentration of terrorists to the Southeastern Hama front.

ISIL decision to attack the Al-Salamiyah instead of another volatile front is likely due to their need to alleviate the pressure being put on the Tabaqa Military Airport and Eastern regions of Aleppo by the Syrian Armed Forces.

Following the recapture of Khanaser and the reopening of their only supply route to the Aleppo Governorate, the Syrian Armed Forces once against advanced along the Salamiyah-Raqqa Highway towards the Tabaqa Military Airport in the Raqqa province.

Currently, the Syrian Arab Army’s 555th Brigade of the 4th Mechanized Division is positioned at the outskirts of Zakiyeh village; if captured, they will have once again come back to Raqqa.

Russian Air Force Hits ISIL Oil Tankers in Central Syria

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Russian fighter jets, for the second day in a row, destroyed a major part of the ISIL’s fuel tankers in the Eastern part of Homs province on Sunday.

The Russian air fleet targeted the ISIL oil transport routes near the villages of al-Zara’yah, Wadi al-Dhakara, al-Sakhanah and Arak in the deserts of Northeastern Homs.

The Russian fighter jet’s strikes on the oil transport routes in the Central province have sidelined the ISIL in the Eastern part of Homs; they have been forced to refrain from travel.

On Saturday, the Syrian Army troops repelled ISIL’s heavy attack on an oil-rich region in the Eastern part of Homs province and forced the terrorist group to pull forces back from the battlefield.

The ISIL attempts to prevail over the government forces’ line of defense in Jazal oilfield was fended off by the Syrian soldiers.

The heavy fire of the Syrian army inflicted a heavy death toll on the terrorists and forced them to retreat.

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian air force dropped more Arabic-language leaflets reading “Surrender Now” over the militant groups in the Southern part of Idlib province on Sunday to give the Takfiri terrorists a last chance to lay down their arms and surrender to the authorities.

The Syrian aircraft dropped the leaflets over the terrorist groups’ stronghold in Jisr al-Shughour and Jabal al-Zaviyeh reading “surrender now; you have nowhere to go”.

The leaflets urged the militants to withdraw Jisr al-Shughour region that will be the target of the Syrian army’s large-scale offensives in the coming days.

Reports said earlier today that the Syrian Army troops and their popular allies continued to press on the militant groups deployed in the Northeastern parts of Lattakia and the Southern parts of Idlib provinces.

“The Terrorist groups in Northeastern Lattakia have retreated from village-to-village as the Syrian government forces continued their wide-scale advance to the Turkish and Idlib province borders,” the sources said.

“The Syrian army, the National Defense Forces (NDF), the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), the Syrian Marines, and the 48th Special Forces Regiment have stormed the militant groups’ defense line at two different fronts that ultimately lead to Jisr al-Shughour,” the sources added.

“The army continued to pound l-Nusra Front’s lines of defense at the strategic mountaintop town of Kabani in Jabal al-Akrad, while the 48th Special Forces Regiment and their allies attacked the terrorist group along the Aleppo-Lattakia Highway (M-4 Highway),” they said.

“The Syrian army advancing along several hilltops surrounding Kabani; this town is situated to the Southwest of Jisr al-Shughour and to the West of al-Sirmaniyah. Al-Sirmaniyah is one of the villages needed by the Syrian Armed Forces to advance on Jisr Al-Shughour’s Southern side,” the sources went on to say.

“Meanwhile, along the Aleppo-Lattakia Highway, the 48th Special Forces Regiment and their allies continued their assault on ‘Ein al-Baydha in Idlib province, destroying several enemy mechanisms while pushing further North. Unlike the 103rd Brigade’s advance from the South, the 48th Special Forces Regiment is pushing towards Jisr al-Shughour’s Western side; this is the gateway to the city because of the high ground that it possesses,” the sources said.

The Syrian Armed Forces can pressure Jisr Al-Shughour from the south, but they can only retake the city with the western flank.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey Plotting to Transfer ISIL to Jordan from Syria

TEHRAN (FNA)- A Jordanian political analyst disclosed that the ISIL is planning to shift from Syria to Jordan in a bid to make up for its defeats in that country, and said that the Ankara and Riyadh governments are behind such plots.

“Arresting tens of ISIL terrorists along the Syrian-Jordan border shows that the Takfiri terrorist group is sending its militants to Jordan,” Nahez Hatr told FNA on Sunday.

He said that the Saudi and Turkish spy agencies have orchestrated the ISIL terrorists’ relocation to Jordan.

In relevant remarks on Friday, a senior Jordanian politician warned that the Riyadh government is seeking to destabilize Jordan in a bid to help the Takfiri terrorist groups to achieve their goals.

“After its defeats in Syria, Saudi Arabia is trying to make Jordan an unstable and insecure country through supporting the Salafi and Takfiri currents,” Khaled Bani Hani told FNA.

He explained that after Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabi scenarios for Syria failed, Jordan’s Takfiri terrorists who were fighting against President Bashar Assad’s government in Syria asked to return to Jordan, but Amman vowed to try them in courts if they returned to Jordan.

Also in late January, Jordan’s political and military experts warned against the new wave of flow of terrorists into Jordan after the recent defeats of the terrorist groups across Syria.

“Tight security measures should be established along the borders between Jordan and Syria as terrorists are heading towards Jordan,” the Arabic-language al-Qad newspaper quoted Jordanian experts as saying.

The Jordanian military experts underlined the strategic importance of the Syrian army’s recent victories in Sheikh Meskeen, warning that hundreds of terrorists are escaping Syria’s bordering province of Dara’a to take shelter in Jordan.

Jordan has previously announced that anyone crossing the Syrian border into Jordan would be labeled and treated as a terrorist and not a refugee.